Police to use stop and search powers at Notting Hill Carnival due to weapons fears

Police will have the power to stop and search people at the Notting Hill Carnival in a bid to crack down on violence.

Scotland Yard said it would be imposing a Section 60 order across the carnival’s geographical area between 9am and 11.59pm on Sunday.

The order allows officers to search people if they believe they may be carrying offensive weapons or in anticipation of violence.

Notting Hill Carnival Gold Commander Dave Musker said: “The MPS has worked tirelessly to develop an appropriate and proportionate policing plan; however, given the intelligence picture and incidents of violence I have seen across the city over the last week, I have made the decision to authorise this order as an additional preventative measure.

Properties are boarded up along the carnival route (PA)

“The use of this authority will reassure our communities that we are constantly working to protect them. It will also send a message to those intent on committing acts of violence that we will robustly target them.”

He added: “I have not made this decision lightly, but with the safety and security of all those planning to attend this event in the forefront of my mind. I will personally keep this order under constant review, and when I believe this no longer forms part of a proportionate policing plan, it will cease.”

The measure is part of a number of plans put in place by the force to help keep carnival-goers safe after a wave of violent crime in the capital in recent months.

Nearby homes and buildings and been boarded up and multiple knife arches are being installed for the first time in the carnival’s history.

A woman walks past a boarded up property in Notting Hill, west London, ahead of Notting Hill Carnival (PA)

The anti-weapon measures will be placed at “strategic points” along the route of the west London street party.

It is hoped the “tried and tested” method will put off those planning to arm themselves with knives and offensive weapons but not everybody will be expected to pass through them, according to the Met.

The two-day event will also be policed by the highest number of officers in six years, with some 13,000 officers deployed – around 450 more than last year.

Almost 7,000 officers, some from the Metropolitan Police’s newly formed Violent Crime Task Force, will be policing Monday’s event to “combat the threat of violent crime”.

The carnival music is set to stop for a 72-second silence in tribute to the 72 people who died following the fire at Grenfell Tower (PA)

This will be up from 6,100 on-duty officers on Sunday’s less busy family day.

Undercover police officers as well as officers from the force’s firearms and dog unit will be in place.

The event is expected to attract more than one million revellers to its floats, food stalls and music.

The music is set to stop for a 72-second silence in tribute to the 72 people who died following the fire at Grenfell Tower in June 2017.